The present disclosure relates to accessories that attach to surgical tables to support portions of patients during surgery. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to accessory frames that attach to surgical tables and that are configured for supporting upper bodies of patients during surgery, such as, for example, spinal surgery.
Standard surgical tables, also referred to as operating tables or operating room (O.R.) tables, typically have pivotable patient support sections that are moved by actuators, such as electric linear actuators or hydraulic actuators, to place a patient in a desired position. The patient support sections of these standard tables usually have metal frames and the tables oftentimes further include other metal elements which interfere with the ability to obtain desired x-ray images or fluoroscopic images of a patient during surgery. During some surgeries, such as orthopedic surgery, and particularly, spinal surgery, it is fairly important for x-ray images and/or fluoroscopic images to be taken of a patient due to the implantation of screws, rods, replacement discs, and the like, in very close proximity to critical nerves including the spinal cord. As a result, standard surgical tables are not suitable for some surgeries.
Specialized orthopedic surgical tables have been developed for orthopedic surgery and a subset of these specialized orthopedic surgical tables, such as, for example, the “Jackson” table and the “Andrews” table, have been designed specifically for spinal surgery. Examples of the “Jackson” table may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,088,706; 5,131,106; 5,613,254; and 6,260,220. An example of the “Andrews” table may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,882. The various types of Jackson tables and the Andrews table are self-standing surgical tables which are very expensive, but which are only used for a small percentage of the surgeries that may be performed in a hospital.
Attempts have been made in the past to design substantially radiolucent table extensions that attach to standard surgical tables to support a patient during spinal surgery or other surgical procedures during which x-ray or fluoroscopic images are to be taken of the patient's upper body. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,995,067; 5,758,374; 6,003,174; 6,584,630; and 6,813,788. Each of the devices in the patents just listed include a table top or panel or similar such structure underlying the patient. In some surgical procedures in which a patient is in a prone position, such as some spinal surgery procedures, it is desirable for the patient's abdomen to hang downwardly without obstruction so as not to be supported by an underlying table surface. Accordingly, table extensions having such table tops or panels may not be suitable for some spinal surgery procedures. In addition, many of the known table extensions connect to the associated surgical table with a fixed connection that does not permit the extension to pivot relative to the surgical table in a manner that would permit flexure of a patient by a sufficient amount to place the lumbar region of the patient's spine in a more lordotic (i.e., more arched) or more kyphotic (i.e., flattened or hunched) position than when the patient is simply lying in a flat, prone position with the lumbar region of the patient's spine in its naturally arched position.